Britain, Russia want swift Iran reply on nuke deal

MOSCOW (AFP) – Britain and Russia have urged Iran to give a prompt response to a UN-drafted nuclear fuel deal, Foreign Secretary David Miliband said on Monday during a visit to Moscow.

"We both want to see a prompt response from the Iranian regime in respect to the Tehran research reactor proposal," Miliband said at a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

"The truth is, Iran can be treated as a normal country if it behaves as a normal country," Miliband added.

Lavrov said Moscow was counting on Tehran to approve the nuclear fuel deal, which was thrashed out at a meeting last month in Vienna with representatives of Iran, Russia, France and the United States.

"This meeting ended with an agreement... which we are counting on all the participants, without exceptions, to approve, including Iran," Lavrov said.

Iran has delayed giving a clear response to the plan, which was brokered by the UN atomic energy watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and is seen as a possible solution to the Iranian nuclear standoff.

The Islamic Republic is under pressure to sign the deal, which would see its low-enriched uranium sent to Russia and France for conversion into fuel and sent back to a Tehran research reactor monitored by the IAEA.

Earlier on Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki called for a review of the proposal.

The proposed agreement has faced stiff opposition from top Iranian officials who say it is a Western sleight of hand aimed at getting Tehran to suspend its uranium enrichment work.

Lavrov said Russia was "united" with Britain on the need to fulfil the nuclear fuel agreement, as well as on the need for inspections at Iran's previously secret nuclear facility near the holy city of Qom.

Iran agreed to let a team of IAEA inspectors visit the site last week, after the site's revelation in September raised concerns in Russia and the West that Tehran was not being open about its nuclear ambitions.

"The initial information indicates that Iran cooperated with the agency's inspectors during this visit," Lavrov said.

Lavrov added that he and Miliband had agreed it was "highly important" for the six world powers negotiating with Iran on its nuclear programme to hold another meeting to discuss Tehran's own proposals on the standoff.

Russia and Britain are two of the countries engaged in the six-party talks, along with France, China, Germany and the United States.

The United States, European Union and Israel fear that Iran is seeking to build an atomic bomb under the guise of a civilian nuclear programme, but Tehran denies the charges and insists the programme is peaceful.

Russia, which has closer ties with Iran than any other major world power, is seen as a key player in any possible solution to the standoff.

Moscow has long resisted calls for tougher sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear drive, but in recent months top Russian officials including President Dmitry Medvedev have said sanctions might be "inevitable".